Posted 1/5/2024, 2:02:39 PM
Study Finds More Negative Economic News Tone Despite Solid Fundamentals, Helping Explain Weak Consumer Sentiment
- Research shows a disconnect between positive economic fundamentals and negative consumer sentiment over the past several years
- Possible explanations include dissatisfaction with inequality and prices, lack of affordable housing, pessimism about the future, and non-economic factors like politics and culture
- Analysis suggests economic news tone has become more negative than expected given economic fundamentals since 2018
- This increased negativity may drive inaccurate negative perceptions about the economy among news consumers
- Systematically more negative news tone presents a partial explanation for why consumer sentiment diverges from macroeconomic performance